[Multimodal therapy of colon carcinoma]

A large variety of immunological and cytotoxic adjuvant treatment concepts and application routes have been observed to be effective in colon cancer by randomized trials during the past three decades. Presently adjuvant 5-fluorouracil based chemotherapy is favoured for patients with lymph node metastases (UICC stage III), since this treatment was associated with a 5-10% increase in 5-year survival. Uncertainty persists regarding the optimal use of adjuvant treatment, since marked differences in prognosis have been recognized within stage III and because the impact of surgical treatment on long-term survival has not been thoroughly controlled for in past trials. Current and future studies will have to determine precisely which patients will benefit most from adjuvant treatment and which combination of surgical and adjuvant treatment will be most effective.